Mediterranean Hegemon of Ancient Greece - Chapter 619
Thurii’s narrow victory over Compsa could be attributed to the Daunian War taking away a lot of excellent players in the first legion. On the other hand, Uzentum’s victory over Rudiae was completely unexpected. And the invited Abellinum shocked many people by defeating Pyxous while Rhegium, who everyone regarded as a pushover, actually took out Naxos…this year’s game situation is really confusing, and even the veteran fans couldn’t understand it.
While the wonderful matches drew the public’s attention, the Senate held several emergency meetings in the past two days.
The first was about Ladician and Lasiperatus leading several Sicilian statesmen to protest against the Praetor of Naxos, Milo and the Praetor of Catania, Siprus’ unlawful behaviour of disregarding the Theonian Law by sending people to enter their houses and searched their belongings forcibly. Thus they demanded that the Senate immediately send someone to stop their madness and remove them from their positions.
Their proposal was, however, opposed by the statesmen Stromboli led and some of the statesmen from the former South Italian City-State Alliance led by Lysias(statesman).
Since Milo had already started his search operation and after getting the hint from Davos, Stromboli no longer needed to keep it secret. Thus he faced the statesmen in the meeting hall and loudly narrated his last tenure in Naxos, where his men investigated a murder case. Then the slave who voluntarily surrendered confessed another secret after getting interrogated.
The statesmen, who initially thought the matter about Sicily was strange and were asking around, had suddenly caused a commotion.
On the other hand, Ladician and the others denied it and accused Stromboli of framing them.
While the two sides argued endlessly, the other side felt that these Sicilian statesmen were somewhat panicking.
In the end, the meeting ended without any results.
After the meeting, Ladician, Lasiperatus and the others tried to explain to Davos in person. However, Davos refused to meet them, saying he was already exhausted and needed a rest.
Ladician then went to ask his son-in-law for help.
But Antonios, who was ‘sick’ and was idling at his home, heard about what had happened in Sicily and remembered King Davos’ reminder back then. Thus despite his wife’s pleas, he finally hardened his heart and didn’t open the door.
Without any other choice, Ladician and the others went to ask for help from the other statesmen with who they had good relationships.
Yet these statesmen aren’t fooled. Back then, they made friends with the Sicilian statesmen such as Ladician for their interests or to request something for Antonios through Ladician. But now that they could see that Milo and Siprus are having a massive search that even the Supreme Judge Tritodemos had rushed over, who would believe they would do that without the instructions of King Davos? Thus these people had naturally shunned Ladician and the others.
The previously proud Ladician lost his desire to scold these people’s ruthlessness as he felt a strong sense of unease. He then sent his trusted subordinate to invite a lawyer who was well versed in the law. But after learning that his past actions would make him the second Pollux, Ladician could no longer sleep all night.
On the following day, the Senate meeting continued, and the Sicilian statesmen were no longer in good spirits, and the subsequent two reports from Sicily made them feel even colder.
In their respective reports, Milo and Siprus state about finding a lot of evidence in the residence of Ladician, Lasiperatus…and other statesmen in Sicily that Archonis, the chieftain of the Tanikian tribe of the Sikelo, had bribed them to speak for the Tanikian tribe in the Senate. At the same time, many slaves testified that these statesmen had a lot of land in the Tanikian territory, which was farmed and harvested by their Sikeloi slaves and then transported one after another through the Sikeloi mountains…
The statesmen were shaken after they read the report.
Then some statesmen suddenly said, ‘We thought Ladician and Lasiperatus were quite rich as we often see them held banquets, so that’s where their money comes from!’
Ladician and the others immediately shouted that they were wronged and that Milo and Siprus were framing them.
Yet even after saying all of that, the Senate still passed the proposal of “temporary barring the several statesmen, such as Ladician, Lasiperatus and Ikadas, and would hold a trial after Tritodemos escorted the evidence back to Thurii.”
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“Your majesty, Lord Antonios couldn’t endure his wife’s pleading as he sent someone to mediate for Ladician. However, he didn’t come to you and instead sent someone to Lord Cornelius. But Lord Cornelius didn’t accept his request. On the contrary, he recommended Lord Kunegalata.” the court herald Aristias reported to King Davos, “The report states that Kunegalata didn’t refuse and allowed Antonios’ trusted slave to enter his house. And not long after, the slave received a letter, left the house, and went directly to the Akademia of Theonia…”
“It seems that Antonios is really muddled! I already told him to stay still at his home, but he didn’t listen and instead went to disturb Kunegalata, who was recuperating at his home!” Said Davos looking angry. Then he asked with slight curiosity, “Why did Kunegalata have him go to the Akademia? Could it be that…to look for Lysias(Orator)?”
“Your majesty, it is precisely to ask Lysias to act as Ladician’s defence lawyer.” Said Aristias.
Davos’ eyebrows rose slightly, “Did Lysias agree?”
“He should have. The report states that Antonios’ slave was excited after coming out of the Akademia.”
Davos tapped his chair’s armrest with his finger and said, “…it’s good that Lysias would defend him in court. This should be Lysias’ first time as a court lawyer, right?”
“Yes, your majesty. I heard that he had passed the court’s examination and was qualified as a lawyer for several years but has never appeared in court.” Said Aristias.
“Great, we can take this time to watch the wonderful performance of Lysias, who was called the best rhetorician and orator in the kingdom. Anyway, the more they debate the truth, the clearer it becomes. And Theonia will not arbitrarily punish and suppress statesmen and officials; we will do everything according to the law. However…Lysias will find it quite difficult if he wants to absolve Ladician and the others completely.”
After hearing this, Aristias quickly observed Davos’ expression and saw that he looked relaxed as if he didn’t care much about it.
It is natural for Davos not to care too much about it as he had already achieved his purpose. After all, it is impossible for Ladician and the other Sicilian statesmen, who had accepted bribes and sold the kingdom’s interest, to absolve them of their crime. And whether they stayed in prison for more years or fewer doesn’t mean much to Davos. Instead, this event allowed Davos to purge the Sicilian group in the Senate and rectify the officials of the various places in Sicily. Furthermore, they also got the opportunity to step into the territory of the Sikeloi.
Davos then looked at Aristias, which made Aristias quickly lower his head.
“Has Garni, the chieftain of Abellinum, arrived?” Davos asked, changing the subject.
“He is on the way.”
“I wonder what bad news this Samnite brought me again?” Davos said that, but his expression remained relaxed.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
After getting led by the slave, Lysias entered Kunegalata’s bedroom.
Kunegalata, a man of great influence in Magna Graecia in the past and the most important statesman of the kingdom of Theonia, was lying on the bed with a flushed face and barely breathing as if he was on death’s door.
Lysias sat gently on the chair beside him as if a loud sound would aggravate Kunegalata’s illness.
Kunegalata looked at him with a pair of cloudy eyes as he weakly said, “I was just thinking…cough…whether you would…come here.”
“How is your health?” Lysias asked with concern.
“I won’t die for a while…” Kunogelata, with a rather calm expression, slowly placed his left hand on his chest and said in a dull tone, “Herpus…came to see me many times…and said that I was suffering from the…trauma caused by the incident that happened more than ten years ago(referring to his expulsion by the former Thurii)…cough…to the point where my body won’t function properly…cough.”
“Then rest well and don’t talk too much.” Lysias felt uncomfortable hearing his constant coughing, so he stood up and said, “I’ll head back first and come see you later.”
“I am afraid…you might no longer see me next time.” Kunegalata barely smiled and asked, “You….cough…came to ask me…why you should…defend them?”
Lysias looked at his lacklustre face and nodded sadly.
“Lysias…I know very well about your capability…unfortunately, as soon as you came back…cough…you entered the Akademia…so except for the students…who knew about your talent…many of the people of the kingdom…don’t even know…that the hymn for every celebration…cough…were written by you…so it’s now the time to show your talent to the citizens…to the statesmen…to his majesty…”
Kunogelata’s words caused Lysias’ heart to pound. After calming down, he couldn’t help but ask, “Just for me?”
“It’s more than that…cough cough…” Kunegalata coughed violently, making the slave girl at his bedside hurriedly help him sit up, pat him on the back and then place a clean cloth towards his mouth.
Lysias was inwardly shocked when he saw blood covering Kunegalata’s thick phlegm on the cloth towel.
Kunegalata’s pained face seemed to ease considerably after spitting out the phlegm. He then leaned back against the bed and said weakly, “Although Ladician and the others have made mistakes…I hope they won’t get punished too severely…because the kingdom’s rule in Sicily isn’t yet firm…I hope it won’t cause the Sicilians to revolt…and cause unrest…and…”
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